Saturday Week 4 of Lent

Let us cut him off from the land of the living so that his name will be spoken no more. As we move closer to the celebration of the paschal mysteries in holy week, our readings continue to remind us of the fate that awaited Jesus in Jerusalem. The accusations against Jesus are getting increasingly heightened, with the religious authorities determined to see Jesus silenced at whatever cost. The whole saga is revolving around the Messiahship of Jesus: the religious authorities see him as an imposter! They have realized that they can’t continue accusing him on account of what he does, so they are out to discredit him. To them, Jesus can’t be a prophet because he comes from Galilee. The truth or falsehood of Jesus’ claim notwithstanding, this is no reason to want to silence him (Pilate would also later on come to such a conclusion). Their grievance against Jesus is triggered by something else. It is a grievance that religious authorities have had against prophets since the institution of prophecy.
A prophet’s call is to show the people the right path they have to take, the path to the true God. This is a responsibility that most often put the prophet in a collision course with the people because a prophet was always raised when the people had strayed from their call to fidelity. Jesus, as a prophet, could not escape this. His mere presence constantly reminded the people of their infidelity. His actions reminded the religious authorities of their neglect. His words came to them as criticism and a call to repentance (
never before has anyone spoken like this man). A true prophet can never escape this because a prophet will always be on the side of truth.